Blood Brothers
by Mystical Light
Summary: Cas is taken in off the streets by two brothers who are not all that they appear to be. Neither is he, himself. They find that they all have the same goal in mind - kill the ones who made them into what they are today. Vampire AU
1. The Finding

Disclaimer: This is a work of Supernatural fiction. I do not own the characters listed in this story and am doing this purely for amusement.

I meant to write this as only a short piece but there is still a lot more to come as the idea continues. I hope you enjoy what I've written and posted today and I'll post more soon.

* * *

The hour was late, the alley was dark and the sky was storming above them when they found him sitting under an overhang to the door of a restaurant, alone and without a home. They introduced themselves as Sam and Dean. He said simply that his name was Cas. After a quick discussion (mostly comments about the horrible weather they were experiencing) they kindly offered him the extra room at their place and without hesitation he took it, eternally grateful to get out of the storm that was raining down on them from above.

Once off the street and back at their place, Sam left Dean to tend to their guest and went into his own bedroom, closing the door behind him. After offering food or drink and being rejected, Dean gave Cas a towel so he could dry off and Cas asked if it was all right for him to take a warm shower to awaken his frozen body.

"Sure."

Dean waited for Cas to disappear from the room before returning to his brother and shutting Sam's bedroom door behind him. Sam was sitting on his bed, staring at the wall when Dean entered and then he turned his head.

"So," Sam asked, "how long do you think?"

Dean crossed his arms against his chest and shrugged as he looked back over his shoulder. "A few days. A little over a week, if that."

The shower turned on but the brothers knew that they still needed to be very cautious before continuing.

"Cas. That was the name you heard on the grapevine?"

"I doubt there are a lot of guys called 'Cas' in the world living on the street. Especially in this town." Sam returned to looking at the wall before saying, "We can keep an eye on him for now. See that his needs are met."

Dean nodded and returned to the living room to wait. Cas reentered about twenty minutes later, still with the same towel but this time he was using it to dry his hair.

"Damn. Forgot to offer you a change of clothes."

"Its fine," Cas said, looking down at his outfit. "Thank you for allowing me to use your facilities, Dean."

"It's no problem, man," Dean said cordially. "Hard times?"

Cas sighed and nodded his head, bringing the towel down and holding it in both hands now. "I arrived into town recently leaving behind my family and friends after an...incident."

"Falling out?"

Cas didn't answer right away but he threw the towel onto the back of the couch and shrugged his shoulders. He walked away and back. "It wasn't entirely of my own free will."

Dean chuckled. "Free will; funny thing that." Dean shifted himself on the couch so he was facing Cas who was staring at the wall, deep in thought. "As humans, we have the option of choosing the lives we want to live - except for when that chance is taken away from us and then what are we left with?"

"Living the lives that were unfairly handed to us in a moment of total weakness," Cas answered. He turned back to Dean then, forlornly staring down at his feet, clenching his hands into tight fists as he fought the tears that wanted to be released.

"Cas," Dean said, getting his attention. The two men locked eyes and Dean slowly stood and went before him, putting a comforting hand against his shoulder. "I know what happened to you. My brother and I, we've been combing all over the city looking for you."

Hope sparked in his eyes for a second. "For - for what purpose?"

Carefully, Dean asked, "How long have you been the way you are?"

"One week, four hours and thirty-two minutes. Exactly," Cas recited with a hitch to his voice.

"Wow, okay. So then, you can tell that my brother and I - we're like you. We're all in the same boat."

Cas really did begin to cry in earnest and Dean opened his arms to him, allowing Cas to walk right into a much needed embrace.

"It'll be okay, Cas," Dean whispered, running his hand over the other man's hair.

"I'm so hungry, Dean," Cas sobbed onto Dean's shoulder. "I refused for so long and now it's eating me up from the inside out."

While pulling away, Dean asked, "When was the last time you ate?"

"Two days ago. Right before I got into town. I couldn't help myself and - and that man. He was standing _right there._"

Explains the newspaper article about a dead guy on the street, suspiciously absent of all his blood.

"Hey, Cas - I said already that it's all right. You couldn't help it."

"But it's not human. I'm not -"

"No. You're not, not anymore. And you know what - that's okay."

"How can you say that?" Cas walked over to the nearest window and, pointing down at the ground below them, said, "We're a threat to everyone out there, Dean. We shouldn't even be able to exist like this. This is... this is _folklore._"

"Hey, folklore is just old stories and all stories have a tidbit of truth to them."

"Fine then. We are _monsters_."

"No, man see - that's where you're wrong."

"Then enlighten me please, Dean," Cas asked, coming right up into Dean's face and staring at him, daring him to look away. "What exactly are we if not monsters?"

"We're ourselves," a third voice said, "and that's all that matters." Cas and Dean both turned to the figure of Sam as he entered the room. "You're always the same you you've always been, Cas. You've just got… a little extra to deal with now. Like suddenly developing celiac or something. "

Cas turned back to Sam and said plainly, "I don't want to hurt people."

"Cas," Sam said, coming forward, leaning down so they were eye to eye and laying a hand on each shoulder, "you don't have to."

"I - I don't?" Cas asked shocked.

"No. We don't. Never have and never will because…" Sam walked to the refrigerator and opened the freezer. Cas walked towards it to look and, lining the entire space and all along the door, were packets upon packets of red liquid.

"We have a supplier," Dean said, giving Cas a light smack on the back. "A friend of ours. We help him, he helps us."

"And he does not mind that you are -"

"Nope." Dean reached in and took one out for himself and another that he handed to Cas.

Cas watched as Dean tore into the side of the plastic and began to slurp it up before doing the same. It was a little on the cold side but, all in all, it _really_ hit the spot.

"Stick with us, kid," Dean said. "We'll show you the way of the world. The good parts, anyway."

Cas looked between the brothers and took a breath in before shakily letting it out. "Okay. I'll stay, until I find my feet."

* * *

The brothers got Cas settled in the extra bedroom before having a little meeting in the main area, Dean grabbing the television remote and Sam getting each of them their own packets of blood.

"Bobby said he'd get back to us in the morning with all of Cas' info he can round up before destroying it," Sam said.

"Awesome," Dean said, flipping through the channels.

Sam handed Dean his dinner and he took it without looking away from the screen.

"So," Sam asked, "how long do you think Cas is going to want to stick around with us once he finds out what our other job is?"

"That depends."

"On what?"

Dean turned to Sam and shrugged his shoulders. "On how good he is at digging graves."

"We're gonna train him up to be -?"

"The world needs more hunters in it, Sammy. Besides, I think the next time we run into a nest he's going to want in on its destruction."

Dean settled on a channel and sat back, getting comfortable.

"You do know that, with Cas here, we've got our own nest right?" Sam asked.

"It's not a nest," Dean said, testily. "We're…roommates."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, Dean. So we're basically going to train Cas for revenge."

"There's no better motivator. Besides, there's something about him that's a bit familiar."

That got Sam's attention. He sat up and turned to look at Dean. "Something like…"

"I don't know right now. Call it a hunch. We'll talk to him, see if my hunch has legs."

Dean said no more after that and Sam knew better than to ask any more questions. He would find out the information just the same when his brother was willing to give it. Ever since things changed, one thing that stubbornly remained the same was that Dean's word was law and if anything went against it, if it was dangerous then it would be taken out no questions asked. If it went against those he cared about, he'd throw himself into the fire and beyond to save them.

After all, that's how they got into this mess in the first place.


	2. Turned

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural. This is purely being done for fun. I am making no money for having written this.

Enjoy the next chapter.

* * *

Cas awoke to find himself on a strange bed, in a strange room. Midnight blue walls surrounded him and the blinds were tightly shut allowing no light to enter. The walls were for the most part bare save for a few symbols painted onto them that looked intricate and beautiful but wholly strange. Cas sat up straight, looking around and it took his brain several minutes to remember everything that had happened last night.

Meeting the brothers out on the street.

Going with them back to their place.

Coming to terms with being a - . Okay, maybe he still wasn't exactly ready to totally accept that yet. It had only been one whole week so far.

One week and the rest of his new life.

Rubbing his hand against his head, Cas brought his legs over the side of the bed and touched his feet against the cool wooden floor. He eased himself off of the bed and, upon standing, stretched his back until he heard a delightful popping sound.

"Mmmm," he moaned before walking to the door and opening it.

Exiting the room, Cas walked straight into the living area to find - absolutely no one. "Sam?" he called out. "Dean?" No answer. Scratching his head, Cas got as far as the couch when he smelled it. Blood. Now, it wasn't as strong as it had been while he was on the street. The scent was being blocked so it wasn't at full capacity to linger with the same effect. The more he thought about it though, the thirstier Cas became. He got as far as the refrigerator when there was a knocking on the door.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

Maybe he shouldn't answer - the brothers lived here by themselves apparently so it wasn't likely anyone knew about a temporary house guest. The knock came again and Cas was conflicted. Maybe he should go back to the room...

"Cas?" an older male voice that he definitely did not recognize called from outside. "Castiel Novak, I know you're in there you idjit now let me in and we can talk like civilized people."

Cas froze in place once again. The strange man knew his name! Even the brothers didn't know that. Hell, he didn't even know theirs! The knocking continued several times before abruptly it subsided.

"Boy," the man said more kindly, "I know you're worried. Let me come inside and we can talk. Preferably before the boys get back, if you want."

Cas took one more look back at his vacated bedroom before walking to the main door and opening it.

Somehow, the man he pictured in his head was much different than the one which greeted him over the threshold. He was an older man, maybe in his mid-to-late fifties. He wore an old baseball cap on his head and he had a beard. The first word that came to mind was gruff - like one of those old dogs you just did not want to mess with. He had a bag slung over his one shoulder and was dressed in a dark plaid shirt and worn jeans with dirty boots on his feet.

"You're shorter than I thought," Cas said, right hand still clutching the door knob and his body blocking the way inside.

"Uh-huh," the man said, pushing his way in and, slowly, Cas closed the door and followed him into the kitchen. The man opened the refrigerator and grabbed a beer. "You eat yet today, son?"

"No."

The guy went into the freezer, grabbed a blood packet and tossed it to Cas who caught it with one hand.

"Who are you?" Cas asked as he opened the packet and tipped its contents into his mouth.

"Name's Robert Singer but everyone calls me Bobby. And you, you're Castiel Novak, correct?"

"Yes, but -"

"How do I know that?"

"Yes," Cas said, "how do you know?"

Bobby motioned to the couch and the two men took a seat. Bobby put down the beer and reached into his bag, removing a fairly hefty file folder. After telling Cas to not say a word, he put on a pair of reading glasses and looked through the papers.

"Castiel Christopher Novak. Born October 9th of 1975 in a suburb of Boston. Mother's name is Patricia. Father's name is Charles. You have two older brothers and a younger sister named Gabr-"

"Stop. Please, stop!"

At Cas' (or Castiel's) insistence, Bobby stopped reading and looked up. Noting the sorrowful look in the boy's eyes, Bobby put the file back onto the table and took off the glasses, putting them into the breast pocket of his shirt.

"The boys have several ears in the nests up and down the east coast, despite living this far out in Kansas."

"Nests?"

"Nests," Bobby said with a sigh, "are what groups of your kind are called. Like ants or bees."

Cas forced out a laugh. "I'd hardly call us either." After a second, Cas noticed that this was the very first time he'd referred to himself as 'one of those things'.

"Anyway, I have a feeling I already know what answer I'm going to get, but I'll ask you anyway," Bobby said, this time grabbing a pad of paper out of his bag and a pen. He sat at the ready in his seat with his pen poised. "Cas, mind telling me how this happened?"

Cas finished off the rest of the blood and crunched the empty packet into his fist. Bobby looked like he needed a surprise. Cas indulged and spoke.

"I was coming home late from one of my night labs on campus. I was going for my doctorate in medicine." Here, his voice turned wistful. "It was always my dream to help children, to become a Pediatrician."

"Rather old to still be in school."

"I started late. Had a lot of, um, setbacks. Life, you know." His eyes hardened and he stared down at his feet.

"I was walking to catch the last bus when…"

_Cas arrived at the bus stop to find a girl sitting on the bench already. Every night he was the only one to ride from this stop so finding someone else was a bit unique. But Cas was nothing if not friendly. _

_"Good evening," he said to the lady before taking the seat beside her. _

_"Hey," she said, side-eyeing him, nibbling on her lip and then looking back at the street. _

_Cas took note of her through the light of the streetlamps and she wasn't half bad looking. She was younger than he was, wearing nothing but a form-fitting black bustier, skin tight black leather pants and thigh-high, stiletto heeled boots. Her hair was cropped into a pixie cut, all spiky and looking as though she'd run her fingers through it for hours just to get it just right. Cas pulled his coat tighter around his body, feeling the chill in the air biting through his clothes. _

_"You're not cold?" Cas asked her in shock because, after all, she was wearing practically close to nothing in the middle of February. _

_The girl bit back a laugh, turning to him and the light caught her eyes and they practically glimmered. _

_Faster than Cas thought possible, she slid herself down the bench until she was practically sitting right on top of him. Her icy cold hand touched the top of his and, their eyes still locked, he leaned into her. He couldn't help it. It was almost as though...as though she willed him to come closer. _

_Closer._

_Their lips barely touched when Cas was grabbed from behind, someone holding a knife to his throat and laughing into his ear. _

_"Gotcha," a man whispered. The girl on the bench snickered and rose from her seat as Cas tried to fight his way free. _

_"Take my wallet," Cas gasped while struggling. "It's right there - right in my pocket." _

_"Thanks," the guy said, "but no thanks." The guy looked both ways before shoving Cas away, towards an alley between two closed buildings. _

_Cas tumbled to the ground, scratching his palm enough to draw blood. The two came over to him, now their faces being obscured by the darkness but their eyes still shining so he could see them. _

_"Please," Cas whispered. "Please, don't kill me." _

_"And why would we kill such a beautiful specimen such as yourself," the guy said, kneeling down next to him, putting his hand against the side of Cas' face. The girl looked around, probably making sure they weren't making too much noise to draw any attention. "We like beautiful people," the guy continued to say, drawing back the sleeve of his shirt. _

_He leaned over Cas and reverently ran the knife over his wrist, allowing a veritable river of his blood to flow. Then Cas watched as, impossibly, a second set of teeth (these more like that of a shark) extended from the man's gums as he laughed and brought himself around Cas' back and stuck the offending liquid squarely into his mouth._

"Cas. Cas."

The boy was just staring off into space, his mouth moving as he relived that moment for the first time since it happened.

_"Castiel!"_

Cas shook himself out of it and felt wetness against his eyes that he hurriedly wiped away. "Sorry," he said, more to himself than the man in front of him.

Bobby settled back into his seat and nodded. "S'okay son."

"He - he brought the blood to my mouth and - and when I came to I was alone on the street. They'd, um, abandoned me. Turn-turned me and left."

"Alright," Bobby said, putting the pen down and looking the boy in the eye, "just one more question Cas and I'll let you go do whatever."

Cas steeled himself and nodded.

"Did you get any names off the two deadbeats?"

Cas frowned, thinking back to that night.

_They were whispering to each other and Cas knew that whatever they had done to him, he was losing consciousness and fast. _

_"You done yet?" the girl sneered. _

_"Yeah," the guy said, standing. "We just leaving 'im?" _

_"Boss wants him to find his own way, remember?" _

_"I remember, Gloria. I'm not that stupid." _

_"Well then, let's move," 'Gloria' said and right before total darkness, Cas watched them leave him behind. Broken and damaged beyond compare._

"Her name was Gloria - the one with the pixie cut," Cas said. "I didn't get the guy's name and they mentioned something about a boss."

"Okay," Bobby said, standing, "I think I've got enough info to go on."

The main door suddenly swung open and in walked Sam and Dean, holding a paper bag full of newspapers and, at the very top, a six pack of beer.

"Bobby," Dean said, putting down the bag onto the table and coming to give the man a guy hug, "Thought you weren't coming till tonight."

"Didn't have any cases to look up. Besides, I wanted to keep an eye on what you two knuckleheads found."

"You wanted to watch me?" Cas asked.

"Sorry, son. Wanted to make sure you were legit. Wouldn't be the first time the boys ran into one of your lot and it turned out they had a fond taste for the living."

"Told you he was a regular boy scout," Dean said while giving Cas a smile.

"Hey Bobby," Sam said, "You got any hints of cases you want us to check out?"

"Cases?" Cas asked. "Are you...private detectives?"

Everyone in the room was silent for a minute until they burst into laughter, leaving Cas utterly confused.

"Here," Dean said, tossing a paper into Cas' lap, "see if anything seems weird."

"Weird as in...?"

"Death in a locked room. Someone being in one place one day and then across the country two days later with no memory of it happening. Blood missing from bodies. That sort of thing."

Cas didn't move to try and pick up the paper. "I do not understand what you are talking about."

"Welcome to the wide world of hunting, Cas," Sam said, taking a pen and circling something he was reading.

The paper in Cas' lap was from New Mexico. He side-eyed Dean and opened it, looking through the articles thoroughly. What had he gotten himself into this time?

* * *

I'm trying not the use the V-word until it's absolutely necessary. Thanks very much for reading. More to come soon.


	3. First Hunt

Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural. This is being done purely for amusement.

Chapter 3 here everyone. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

* * *

Dean said that it was a bitch buying and installing the dark tinted windows for his "Baby" and Cas sort of gets it. Once a few years ago he'd parked his own vehicle under a large oak tree down the block from his place. That night it of course stormed for hours full of wind and rain and hail. He came out the next morning to find the largest branch had been torn off by the wind and made a home right on the top of his car, crushing it. He stuck to public transportation since then and was hoping to one day purchase his own motorbike of some kind as a replacement. It was more of a hollow dream now, unfortunately.

Currently, the three of them were piled into Dean's '67 Chevy Impala, driving down the interstate and heading towards Anderson, Indiana to check out a potential haunting. Supposedly on nights of a full moon, the town was rife with ghost activity.

It wasn't that Cas didn't believe in ghosts (far from it) but it was just that...ghosts. Ghosts really were real, at least according to the brothers. Why was he still putting such blind faith in them? Well, they had been rather kind to him, taking him in like one of their own. Bobby mentioned they'd done this sort of thing before - what had happened to the others? He also still had yet to learn the brothers' last names. Bobby hadn't spilled his own full name back to them after their little session and that was something he could be grateful for. It was better this way anyway - keep total trust a hair's length away.

The music that was playing through the vehicle wasn't exactly to Cas' taste but it wasn't bad for mullet rock.

"May we remove the sunglasses, now?" Cas asked while staring out the window.

"Hey, I don't like it as much as the next guy," Dean said, turning his head slightly but not totally away from the road, "but the sunlight still hurts like a bitch, even with the tint. If it was a cloudy day then it'd be fine but until we hit any they're staying on."

Dean muttered something about looking like douchebags but Cas stopped listening. Instead, he watched the trees passing by out the windows. He felt like he was all of nine years old again, going on vacation with his parents and siblings to some far off place by car. His sister with her head in a book. His two older brothers arguing about something stupid...

Sam suddenly leaned forward and turned off the radio, clearly having had enough.

"Dude," Dean said before turning it back on again.

"Dean, it's giving me a headache," Sam said back, hunching in his seat. "At least keep it at a normal volume."

"It is at a normal volume."

"Yeah, for humans who like having their ears blasted out. This is just insane. You're insane, Dean."

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

Yeah, just like a family trip.

* * *

They arrived in Anderson just as the sun was setting for the day. Dean exited the car first to go inside and check them into a motel room leaving Sam and Cas behind. Sam lifted his sunglasses from his eyes before taking them off completely. Cas followed suit a second behind and sighed to himself.

"You doing okay, Cas? No hunger pangs?" Sam asked.

"I feel as though things could be a lot worse, but yes, I am okay."

"We know it all takes a lot of getting used to," Sam said, putting his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "You'll find that, in the hunt, the enhanced senses actually do work in our favor."

"I've never hunted before though - not even for sport."

"S'okay," Sam said with a smile, "We'll teach you everything we know."

"Okay," Dean said, suddenly standing right behind them and making Cas jump in his skin, "I got a room with an extra cot. Head towards room 7 and I'll just bring the car out front."

Sam went to the trunk and he and Cas removed their bags (Cas could still hardly believe the whole arsenal hidden deep within) and walked the short length of the parking lot.

Dean exited the car just as they arrived and together the three of them walked inside. "Is it just me, or is this actually smaller and smeller than the last place?" Dean muttered.

The smells were bombarding Cas, so many bodily and chemical odors that he'd never even noticed before - mostly converged within the bathroom and left side bed.

"Alright, Cas, you want the bed on the le -"

"No," Cas said immediately and shook his head. "I will take the cot."

Sam and Dean shared a look and shrugged before rock, paper, scissoring over who got which bed. Once that was out of the way, Sam set up his laptop at the small table and began researching while Dean sat on his bed and began taking apart his gun and cleaning it.

"So," Cas said, sitting in one of the vacant seats, "what is my actual purpose on this 'case'?"

"Dude, air quotes?" Dean said with a laugh. Cas lowered his hands but waited for elaboration. "Okay, man. What your job is going to be is to learn the ways of the hunter. How we think, what we do, what not to do. You know, stuff like that."

"But Dean," Cas said, shifting in his seat, "As I was telling Sam earlier, I know nothing about hunting and monsters or self-defense of any kind."

"You run?" Dean asked while looking down at his work.

"A little," Cas admitted, pulling his leg up to his chin and leaning on it. "I used to run 5 miles a day before...before."

Dean blew some dust away. "See, danger comes, you run away."

"That hardly seems useful, Dean."

"Ignore my idiot brother, Cas. We'll give you weapons training in a little while," Sam said in the midst of typing.

"Spoilsport."

* * *

Cas turned to the brothers incredulously. "Seriously?"

"Yes," Dean said for the fifth time, "now come on."

It was past midnight and the Impala was parked just off an old abandoned rickety bridge. On the flat wooden side, Dean had placed five beer cans standing up and all he wanted Cas to do was aim the gun and fire them off.

"Just take one shot and then we'll talk about it."

Cas rubbed his nose with the back of his hand but turned and aimed his gun at the first can. Biting the inside of his cheek, Cas fired and - missed it entirely. Sam chuckled and Dean smiled at Cas' indignant expression.

"For real this time," Cas said, lowering the gun and turning.

Dean went around behind Cas and made him lift up his arms and held onto him. "Alright," Dean whispered into his ear, "open all of your senses."

"How?"

"Close your eyes."

Cas did as asked.

"Okay now calm down your mind and concentrate only on my voice and the air around us. You doing it?"

"I think so, Dean."

"Okay - smell the air."

Cas sniffed. He could smell the metal on the cans. The wind was blowing in from the west.

"Open your eyes, Cas and fire."

He opened his eyes and there were the four of them, waiting. Cas fired four shots down the line. Each can went down, one by one.

"Nice," Sam commented.

Cas smiled and turned back to Dean to find him beaming.

"Knew you could do it, buddy."

Just then a figure flickered into sight, right over Dean's shoulder. A young female with dark, wet hair and pale skin reached out to Dean with her hand it went straight into his lower back, making a loud squelching noise.

"Dean," Cas shouted and fired the gun into her head. She vanished for a second making Dean collapse before reappearing on the bridge and looking down at the three of them. Sam this time raised his own weapon but the figure flickered out of sight once again. When she didn't reappear for several minutes, the two of them turned back to Dean just in time to see him standing up and raising a hand.

"I'm cool. I'm fine."

"But the ghost -" Cas began to say but Dean repeated that he was okay.

"Real ghost," Sam said.

Dean nodded. "Salt and burn."

Cas looked between them. "What?" What was going on now?

"Back in the car, Cas."

Cas watched as they got into the car and rolled his eyes before following them. If this was what he had to look forward to, he'd never be able to get used to it. Salt and burn, what?

* * *

It was approaching dawn when they finally reached the motel room.

"I'm gonna head inside," Sam said. Dean tossed him the key and Sam caught it without even turning around.

"Bitch," Dean muttered.

"Ass," a different voice than he was expecting said.

He turned about face and there stood Cas, covered in dirt and looking more than a little irritable. Dean walked over to him and smacked him on the shoulder, saying, "You did good, Cas."

"The ghost pushed me into the grave. Twice."

Dean chuckled. "Yeah."

Cas pulled himself away. "Dean, I wasn't made for this. Whatever it was that we did tonight -"

"We hunted."

"Yeah. Hunting. I'm sorry Dean but the only hunting I've ever heard of is for sport or food. Wild animals in the forest or on the Serengeti or something. Not ghosts."

"You really need to open your eyes, Cas. Much bigger world out there with a lot of big beasties that'll eat the people alive if they let it."

Cas squinted his eyes in thought. "How did you end up like this?"

"What? Hunters? When I was kid, there was this fire and - "

"Not that. You can explain that crazy some other time. _This_," Cas said, motioning to himself.

Dean visibly stiffened. He coughed and looked away but came closer to Cas at the same time. "Hunt gone wrong. My mistake."

He walked away and continued to talk to the air. "Went out by myself on a hunch and got caught. Then my _idiot_ younger brother got himself caught too, trying to save me. I didn't ask him to. Didn't want him to."

Dean and Cas locked eyes again. "We still hunt because it's the right thing to do. It's like…it's like the family business. Now, we might not be human anymore, but we've still got a pretty good sense of what's right and what's wrong. We've gotta give the world some kind of fighting chance, y'know."

Dean stared into Cas and Cas nodded. "I understand."

Dean nodded and smiled a little. "Awesome. Let's head back inside. We earned a little snack and rest."

Now it was Cas' turn to smile. "Sounds good."

Dean put his arm around Cas' shoulder in a companionable way and together they walked into the motel room and shut the door behind them.


	4. Supply Run

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural. No one is being harmed for my having written this piece.

Sorry about the wait between chapters. Had a busy week at work. Enjoy.

* * *

A full week later, the boys got him into the car again and they drove the five hours to Sioux Falls, South Dakota so Bobby could replenish their "supply."

"You'll like it in Sioux Falls. S'quiet," Dean had said, once again the driver.

The only thing Cas was glad about was being out of the house. A dynamic had presented itself to him in the week they'd been simply in that one place together in Lawrence. For one thing - the brothers argued like squabbling children at the best of times. It was far and away nothing like the strategic planning and, most of the time, mutual agreement they'd shown while on the case. That was another thing as well - they searched the country for all sorts of strange cases constantly. That is, when they weren't arguing over whether or not to watch Dr Sexy MD or a National Geographic documentary on the inner cities of downtown Indonesia. Cas honestly would've preferred to watch NOVA on PBS but, being so new, had absolutely no say in the matter.

And for some reason, Cas didn't believe that the brothers trusted him. As if he was going to escape somewhere in town and bite the first handful of people he came upon, drinking and writhing in their blood, letting it drip from his lips and... At the curious feeling of his gums itching, Cas quashed that thought and went back to staring out the Impala's windows.

The sun wasn't shining as bright today; snow was on its way and the sky was overcast. The only good news that brought was no sunglasses. Everything that his eyes landed on was just so...vivid. It was strange, getting used to seeing so much of everything and being able to view its inert beauty.

"Are we almost there?" Cas asked.

"Just twenty minutes out," Dean said, making the music just a little bit louder and drowning out any opportunities of conversation continuing.

* * *

The place where they arrived wasn't so much a house as a scrap yard full of rotting car frames and other curious items with a building at its center. For a moment, Cas wondered foolishly if his own car had somehow ended up here but he walked up to the house with the brothers and Dean knocked on the door. They waited a few minutes, all of them with their hands deep in their coat pockets to not necessarily protect them not from the cold they could barely feel but the sunlight on their skin, when the door swung open and they walked inside.

Bobby closed the door behind them and the three of them removed their coats and then each brother went to the man and gave him a tight, family-like hug. Cas, feeling far removed for that sort of intimacy with the man, extended his hand and Bobby chuckled and shook it.

"So, I heard you had your first run in with a ghost and didn't run away screaming," Bobby said, leading the way down the hallway. They arrived in what could've been a cozy den except that it was full of paperwork and books and what looked like things in jars.

"I did," Cas said.

"Yeah," Sam said, "after he learned how to use a gun the right way."

"Tell him how you fell into the grave twice, Cas," Dean said, falling onto the couch. Cas gave him a sour look.

Bobby said while sitting down, "I seem to recall a case where you were hexed by a witch and the effects were - ."

"Whoa," Dean said, "not going there."

"What happened?" Cas asked, intrigued.

"We don't talk about it," Sam said, pushing his brother's legs away and sitting down himself. "How's the supply? We getting it any time in the near future?"

"It'll be here tonight."

"Tonight," Dean moaned, "Then why'd we have to rush over here?"

Bobby looked down at something on his desk and said, "So Castiel..."

Cas stiffened. He felt the brothers' eyes on him from where he stood.

"Castiel?" "That's your name?"

Bobby looked up at him with a sour look and lifted one of the pages from a file. "Mind telling me who the hell Naomi and Anna are?"

Cas froze and stared at the floor, his mind going over years and years of torture at their hands and what they made him do during one particular Christmas meal.

"Cas…?"

"Naomi is my cousin. She and I never really got along, especially when we were kids."

Sam shared a look with Dean and after hesitating Dean asked, "And Anna?"

Cas bowed his head. "Anna is my younger sister. She moved in with Naomi when it came time for her to attend college and I haven't heard from her in over six years."

"Well," Bobby said, putting the paper back into the file and standing with it in his hands, "I have it from a very reliable source that these women have been keeping tabs on their distant family and when you went missing, anything that came over the wire matching your description and unique name was something to look into."

"Are they in town?" Cas asked.

"They might be. Why? Would it bother you if they are?"

"Cas," Dean said, standing, "you can't honestly be thinking about finding them?"

"I want - I want some kind of peace." Dean forced Cas to turn around and he found he couldn't meet his eye for once. Cas forced out, "They're my family, Dean."

"We're family now, Cas. You and me and Sammy - we're all you need."

Cas frowned. "Why did you come and find me, Dean?"

The question once again hung in the air and the tension in the room was centered around the two of them once again.

"Bobby," Dean said.

"Yeah."

Dean turned to Bobby and jerked his head towards the doorway out of the room. "Still open for business downstairs."

Bobby stared at him uncomprehendingly before again slowly saying, "Yeah."

"Thanks," Dean said before dragging Cas out of the room, through the kitchen and to a door.

He opened it and led the way downstairs to the basement full of auto supplies and other things and a huge metal box with a door right in the center. This place was just full of surprises. Still dragging Cas, Dean went to the metal door and took it into his hand and Cas heard the distinctive sound of something sizzling. It was Dean's hand against the iron. He opened the door anyway despite the pain and pushed Cas inside and stepped in himself.

"Why are we down here, Dean?"

"Wanted to talk alone," Dean said, this time using his sleeves to protect his hands as he shut the door and it locked behind him.

Cas was stood in the center of the room and Dean walked up to him so they were only three or four inches apart, nearly eye to eye.

"Cas - what is your sister?"

"I'm - I'm sorry?"

Dean walked a step closer. " .your sister?" Dean asked menacingly.

"She - she's human."

"That's right," Dean said, grabbing him tightly by the wrist and taking another step closer. "What do we need in order to live, Cas?"

"Bl-blood."

"Right again." Dean let go but remained right in Cas' face. "Cas, you can't go off and find them. You are a danger to them."

"Dean," Cas said through clenched teeth, "they're my family."

"And they're probably surrounded by tons of living and breathing people. Did you notice that we're mostly keeping you in isolation?"

Cas did. "I wasn't going to mention it."

"Well, in our terms, you're practically still an infant. I'm frankly shocked you'd only bit one guy before we got to you since others when we get to them have destroyed whole families. Working their way through towns."

"You thought I would enjoy destruction?"

"I did!"

Cas took a step back as Dean put his hand over his face. He did not mean to say that aloud. "You -"

"Conversation's over." Dean stared at him for a minute before abruptly turning and walking away.

Cas followed him a few steps behind, back up the stairs but Dean continued to walk until he reached the hallway and went up to the second floor. When Cas heard that sound of a door slamming shut, he went back into the den where the others were waiting. Sam was looking over some giant book while Bobby had his glasses on again and was writing things on another pad of paper.

"Everything okay?" Sam asked without looking up.

"We talked," Cas said, "and then your brother went upstairs to think, I believe."

Sam sighed and shut the tome before getting up and leaving Cas alone with Bobby once more.

* * *

Sam knocked on the closed door and waited.

"Whatever," his brother said from within and that was more than enough of a response.

He came inside to find Dean laying on the bed closest to the door clutching the pillow to his chest and facing the window side of the room. Sam leaned against the doorjamb, crossed his arms against his chest and asked, "You okay?"

"Course I'm okay."

"Yeah," Sam laughed, coming in and sitting at the bottom edge of the bed. "You're as okay as a girl stood up on prom night. Want to talk about it?"

"S'nothing."

Sam squinted. "Did Cas say something to you?"

Immediately Dean said "No" before clamming up.

"Then what?"

Dean took in breath through his nose and turned to face the ceiling while still clutching the pillow. "Brought up memories of where we started, y'know."

Sam did know, none of them were any good. "Dean, we're not like that anymore. The hunting, it - it takes care of that."

"What if we ever revert back though?"

Sam looked at his brother and reached out a hand to him. "We won't let it come to that."

"But, Sammy, accidents happen."

"I know. We learned. We got help. We won't make the same mistakes again."

Dean sat up then and someone else knocked on the door. "Come in."

It turned out to be Bobby.

"Supply will be here in the hour. Your friend's moping on my couch though so you might wanna take care of that before I do something about it."

Sam pulled Dean up from his seat and his brother thanked him with a familial hug that ended just as quickly as it started. Everyone trooped downstairs and Cas was sitting on the couch with one of the big books open on his lap, his finger absentmindedly tracing shapes along the pages as he read or at the very least pretended to.

"Cas," Dean said, getting his attention. "Sorry man about what I said a little while ago. You just…you can't be around your sister right now, okay. It's not safe for either one of you and others until we're ready."

"But, Dean, how was I able to be on the case in Indiana and feel no need to go after the inhabitants?"

"That was my doing," Sam said, folding his hands and sitting down next to him.

"How?"

"Hex bag sewn into your coat. Sorry about that."

Cas frowned and squinted his eyes in thought. "What is a hex bag?"

"Magical mumbo-jumbo. Something you'll learn about along the way. Hungry, Castiel?"

Cas rubbed the back of his neck and slowly nodded his head.

"Okay. Food'll be here soon and then we can book it back to Kansas," Dean said, looking out the window before noticing the book still open on the guy's lap. "What do you got there?"

"Reading material. Fairly fascinating."

"Is that…the bible?"

"Like I said," Cas said, closing the book with a slam, "Fairly fascinating if a little long winded. Very lovely pictures though."


	5. Club Hopping

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural. This is being done for amusement and I am making no money for having written this.

I'm so sorry about not updating for awhile. I was having a really hard time with this chapter, mainly figuring out if Cas is, well, Cas enough. I'm really still trying to find his voice in the story, a medium between human and the show's angel so it's a little rough going. Here's the next chapter though and a little look into some of what changed between show's storyline and where I'm going. Mainly I resurrected a character. Let me know what you think.

* * *

_It was just passed bedtime and Cas was drifting off to sleep_ af_ter a long school day when he heard a creaking noise and a sliver of light appeared at the entrance to his room. _

_"Cassie?" _

_Castiel rubbed his eyes and sat up to see his eight year old sister standing in his room, clutching her teddy bear under one arm. "Anna?" _

_"It's too dark in my room," she whispered, stepping forward. "Can I sleep with you?" _

_Cas sighed but opened his sheets anyway. She padded across the room and slid into place beside him, sighing in relief when he covered her. "My room is just as dark as your own, you know?" _

_"Yeah. But it doesn't have you to protect me from the monsters in it." _

_"There's monsters?" He felt Anna nodding her head, making the mattress quiver slightly. "Who told you that?" _

_"Naomi said." _

_Cas ran his hand over Anna's back, hoping it would calm her down. "Naomi was lying to you," he whispered. "There's no such thing as monsters." _

_"Okay, big brother. I believe you." _

_Cas gave her a kiss on the crown of her head and the two of them fell asleep, Anna holding onto both him and her teddy._

Shortly after dawn, Cas awoke from his rest on his bed in the boys' apartment once again. After getting back from Bobby's last night, everyone separated into their own rooms and did their own things. Cas didn't even know if the brothers slept. There were no noises from their rooms so maybe they rested as well. That or researched more weird events. Cas really hoped that wasn't the case.

"Hey Cas," Dean said, knocking loudly on the door. "Wakey-wakey, we've got to get to Reno by tomorrow."

Cas groaned. This was somehow going to be another very long day. "And what is so important that it is lying in wait in Nevada?" Cas asked in clipped tones.

Dean cleared his throat and said, "Possible nest activity. You in?"

Cas got out of the bed, still in his boxer shorts and opened the door. Dean veritably jumped out of his skin at the sudden movement so Cas quietly counted it as a win. "Very in."

Dean stared at him for a second, looking him up and down. "Gonna need some pants, Cas."

Cas' eyes widened and he closed the door ever so slightly to hide at least part of himself from view. Dean chuckled and smiled, whacking the door a couple of times in his mirth.

"Just get yourself dressed, buddy. We'll be leaving in a couple of hours."

* * *

The drive had been long enough but after they arrived at their Reno motel, when Cas caught sight of what he and the brothers were to be wearing that night, he felt his resolve growing weary. Cas ran his hand against the material of the black leather pants and, not for the first time in his life, wondered what might've happened if the monsters used him for food that night instead of turning him.

"Come on," Dean said, pulling on his tight, expensive looking plain black shirt. "You've gotta look the part, Cas."

"Dean, I was raised in a semi-religious household," Cas said, pulling off his shirt and replacing it for the black one waiting for him. He realized belatedly that Sam just caught sight of his back before it was covered by fabric. He knew what was there but hoped –

"You have a tat?" he asked.

Cas looked to the ceiling and sighed. He didn't want to deal with this right now. "Would you both mind facing the wall as I attempt to pull on these two sizes too small cow-hide pants?"

"Fake cow-hide," Dean said and then laughed. "Like we could afford the real thing."

"Turn. Now, may I ask what we are to do on this case?" Cas asked while getting the pants on.

Both brothers turned and faced the wall with its hanging picture of an old oak tree in a forest.

"Locals are getting mauled by something in the dark. We're thinking it's our folk but we really need to be sure."

"Mauling. Could be werewolves," Cas commented while chuckling. When no one else laughed, he turned around while frowning to find the brothers thinking it over. "Those are real too?"

"We didn't think of that," Sam muttered to Dean.

"Yeah. Should've been right up there, y'know."

"Um, can either of you tell me what isn't real?" Cas asked.

"Unicorns. Angels. Bigfoot's a hoax," Dean counted off.

"Well, now that you've pointed out werewolves," Sam said, "we might have to go about this another way."

He went over to his bag and grabbed his cell phone. He scrolled for a number and then put it to his ear.

"Who is he calling?" Cas asked.

Dean smirked and looked at him. "An old friend."

"Hey Madison..."

* * *

Madison was...not what Cas was exactly expecting.

"Hey guys," the young woman said, breezing through the room and hugging both Sam and Dean (Sam a tiny bit longer) before turning to Cas. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Cas," Dean introduced. "He's, um, he's new to the lifestyle."

"It's nice to meet you," Cas said extending his hand. Madison looked to Sam for confirmation before shaking it. "The brothers told me about your handicap," he commented, putting his other hand gently on top of her own as they shook. "I am so very sorry."

"It's all right," she said, "I've learned to deal with it. The hard way."

She turned back and paced a few feet away, swaying her hips back and forth. "So, I left work early and came all the way out here to help. What's your end of the plan?"

Instead of answering, Dean went to his bag and removed three collars attached to fine metal chains.

"Nice…" Madison commented with a laugh.

"I don't understand," Cas said, apprehensively eyeing the chains, "And I do not believe that I want to."

"The only way we can get close is to, well, play a role," Sam said. Turning to Dean and frowning, Sam asked with pursed lips, "Where did you get those anyway?"

"Doesn't matter," Dean said before throwing one to Sam and the other to Cas before fitting the third around his own neck. Sam and Cas shared a look and stared down the objects in their hands.

"Well, I'd better get ready." Madison disappeared into the bathroom with a garment bag hanging over her shoulder.

"What if the worst should happen," Cas asked. He struggled to figure out the right way to put the collar on when it was grabbed roughly from out of his hands. He looked up to see Dean standing in front of him and Cas extended his neck so Dean could fit the collar around it.

"You said you were raised semi-religious?" Dean asked.

"Yes. Church on weekends and holy days. Prayer before meals. You know, that sort of thing."

Dean chuckled. He slid the collar into place and stepped back to look at Cas. "What would your parents think of you now?"

Cas shrugged his shoulders and looked down at the long metal chain that reached the floor. "My brother went through a phase involving gothic clothing and wore a spiked dog collar in our Christmas photo when I was ten. It is no big deal."

"Right..."

The bathroom doorknob turned and the three of them turned and their jaws respectively dropped. Madison came out wearing a very short, low-cut, little black dress that kissed every curve she had, five inch heels and her hair was just messed up enough to look fashionable. She looked, to say it plainly, hot.

"Okay boys," she said, smiling at their expressions, "Let's go see about helping a town out of trouble."

She sashayed to the main door, opened it and walked outside.

"Dude, you really should reconsider breaking up with her," Dean said before following her to his own car.

"I should," Sam said while nodding absentmindedly.

* * *

The DJ in the club was on fire tonight with the beats. Bodies were swaying on the floor, feeling the music so very deep within themselves. The neon lights were flashing, illuminating certain people at intervals. Everything was nothing and nothing was bliss.

And then they walked in.

A beautiful woman walked in front of the group of four, herself and three very handsome men. Herself and three handsome men who wore dog collars and leashes around their necks. With the metal chain held in her hand and hanging over her shoulder, the lady walked determinedly to the middle side of the dance floor and turned to the tallest of the three, switching her hands until she held his chain in one hand and the two others in the other.

The lady reached forward and yanked his chain until they were so close that their bodies were touching. He put his arm around the small of her back and she laid her head against his chest making a contented noise while the other two stared about the room as though searching for something in particular.

* * *

"See anything yet?" Dean shouted as they searched the room.

Cas shook his head and continued to look. Dean had been insistent that they'd find something here but unfortunately this was the fourth club they'd visited that night and, so far, nada.

They were also having an unusually hard time searching because every time he or Sam locked eyes with any person in the clubs, they would feel the intense need to feed rising by the second. For some odd reason, the hex bags weren't working to full capacity. They'd first noticed it in the second club but since then it had been increasing with every location - like something wanted them to feed. Sam oddly enough was the most susceptible which was why it was agreed that Madison would keep the closest eye on him.

"_Castiel_"

Did someone say his name? Cas turned to the sound of a voice speaking but there was no one nearby.

"_Castiel. Come to me, my son..._"

Cas turned again and, in the darkest corner of the room, someone with glowing eyes was watching them. Watching _him_. He was unable to see who it was but they were definitely male. Tall. A bald head. Wearing a suit. They smirked and disappeared and -

"Cas."

Cas came back to himself to see Dean staring at him in concern.

"You okay?"

Cas swallowed and looked back to the shadowy corner but there was no one to be found anymore.

"I-I heard someone saying my name," he said, rubbing his neck in annoyance due to the uncomfortable collar.

Dean's eyes followed where Cas' had looked and he shook his head. "If that happens again, you let me know right away."

"Guys," Madison called.

Dean and Cas went up to her and Sam.

"I don't feel anything here either," she said apologetically.

"Well then what is this?" Dean asked. "A setup?"

"I don't know but...well, there's nothing here."

"Not nothing," Dean said, eyeing Cas.

"Can we just go back to our room please," Sam said, running his hands through his hair so he would have something to do with them and he'd stop fidgeting.

Cas eyed the room one final time and nodded. Time to gather their bearings and try again on another night.

* * *

It was about seven o'clock in the morning, only an hour after they had all gone to bed when Cas heard someone in one of the beds move around enough that the bed creaked loudly beneath them. He listened as they sat up, the rustling of their clothes as they put them back on and then them walking across the room to the main door which they opened and closed. The sound of the Impala revving up never happened however and Cas turned over to see that Dean's bed was suddenly empty.

"Dean?" he called out, just loud enough to rouse Sam.

"What happened?" the younger brother asked sleepily.

"Your brother has just left the room."

Sam looked to the bedroom clock and especially at the three sets of sunglasses on the cabinet beside their two beds, then to the window where the rising sun was a clear indication of the fact that his brother had suddenly left their room in a hurry.

"Did he take the car?"

Cas shook his head and Sam cursed to himself, removing the sheets from around his legs and getting up to put on some clothes.

"Are we going out to search for him?"

"I am," Sam said, putting on his coat, "You need to stay here and - ."

"No, Sam," Cas said, now getting up from the cot himself. "I will assist you in finding your brother."

"All right. After what you said about last night and us almost going after those co-eds at the club, I don't trust Dean right now. Who knows what he was hiding? We've gotta move fast."

"Agreed."


	6. The Mansion

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural. This is being done purely for amusement and no money is being made for my having written this piece.

This chapter took me forever to get right. Sorry about making you guys wait for so long. There's going to be some fallout from what happens here on out and remember, this is only just the beginning. Enjoy.

* * *

When Dean's brain finally kicked in, he was no longer where he was when he'd fallen asleep. Instead, he was standing outside, in the middle of the afternoon, in front of a tall iron gate that protected a large, beautiful mansion the likes of which only movie stars and rich politicians owned for kicks. Dean walked in a small circle, looking to see if he'd taken a car here or just, well, walked. No car. Hell, he didn't even bring his sunglasses with him so the sunlight burned his eyes the longer he kept them open.

The last thing he remembered, really remembered, was being in bed and someone talking to him. It wasn't Sammy or Cas saying anything in their sleep but a voice he in hindsight didn't even really recognize. It was someone that wanted him. Why him?

The gates slowly began to creak open and Dean frowned. Okay, whatever was going on here he was just going to have to play along. He walked up a long stone pathway to a front door which not-so-shockingly opened when he reached it.

Dean knew better than to announce his presence aloud (_that_ little tidbit had been drilled into him since he was a young child). The foyer to the house was almost as beautiful inside as the yard outside. Everything appeared to be owned by the obscenely wealthy from the framed paintings to the sculptures to the embossed vases. Even the staircase in the center of the hall had gold inlaid in the banister. Dean whistled low, taking it all in. If he were a thief instead of a hunter...

Footsteps at the top of the staircase had Dean turning his head. Standing at the top of the stairs was a man. Dean swallowed and didn't move, frozen to the spot.

"Well, well. _Dean Winchester_."

The man began to walk down towards him and Dean tried to will himself to look away. He couldn't. He drank in the sight of the stranger: tall, dark skin, a suit, long, curled fingernails. The man came to stand before him, just an inch or so taller so that he needed to look down at Dean. He placed a pointed fingernail just under Dean's chin and smirked.

"_Hunter_," he purred. "So, you and your brother mean to defy me. Defy our Mother's ideal. Your brother and your new friend, my new son, would have been all too easy to break. You though, _Dean Winchester_, are a challenge. You will do nicely. I have big plans for you, my child."

He scraped the fingernail against the bottom of Dean's chin, drawing a single lined cut. He gripped Dean by the shoulder and led him away. Dean didn't even try to stop him.

* * *

Nowhere. They had absolutely nowhere to start to even look for Dean. He could still be in town or he could be halfway across the country by now. While Sam continued to rack his brains for ideas, Cas sat at the laptop, typing away. After a few minutes, he sat up straight and turned around.

"Sam, please come over here."

Sam stood up and went over where there was a window pulled up, showing all of the cameras of all of the intersections in town.

"What is this? Did you hack into the police database?"

"A trick I learned, courtesy of my brothers. Give me a minute and I will rewind it back to a few hours ago."

Cas typed something and the cameras moved backwards until finally there was a single flash beam on the screen that he paused. Sam frowned and stared.

"You think that's him?" he questioned.

Cas nodded. Using a pen, he pointed to the screen and mimed drawing an arc. "Following his trajectory, he goes over the grass here and then... then I do not know. The cameras do not reach any further."

"But it's a start," Sam said, leaning over. "A very, very crappy one, but it's one." Sam sighed and moved so Cas could get up from his seat. "Okay. Let's move out and start looking."

They grabbed their jackets and sunglasses and left the motel room together. In silence they walked to the intersection from the website and took a look around. Sam sniffed the air and easily found his brother's unique scent. They were on the right track.

"Come on, Cas. This way."

Sam's nose led them along. They had hoodies and their sunglasses on, protecting them from the sun while also making them look like a couple of solar-allergic douchebags.

"I think it would be prudent to speed this up, Sam," Cas said after the fourth dog-walker gave them the stink eye.

"Yeah," Sam agreed with a sigh.

The scent led them three towns over and to a giant gated home.

"Dean is here?" Cas asked skeptically.

Sam touched the iron gate and immediately pulled his hand away, revealing a bright red scorch mark on his palm. Both of them looked up at the enormous house in the distance and Sam was about to touch the gate again but Cas stopped him.

"It does not do to harm yourself for your brother, Sam," Cas said.

Just as he let go of the other man's wrist, the gate creakily began to open for them. They both looked at each other and then slowly made their way towards the waiting commune.

"Do you have an idea of what we should do once we reach the door," Cas asked.

"Find Dean and get the hell out of dodge," Sam said.

Cas looked up at him before looking away and shaking his head. "I wish I had your optimism."

The door was already open when they reached it. Sam walked in first and immediately called out, "Dean?"

"Dean?" Cas said a bit more quietly a minute later.

They both reached the fancy staircase, intending to go up, when a headless body was used as a projectile and thrown to the ground below just a few feet from where they had stood, leaving a line of red blood in its wake. Sam looked up and, with a strange black band around his neck, was Dean with a machete in his hand.

"Dean?"

Dean turned his head at the sound of his name before he spotted Sam and lowered his arm. He jumped from the top of the staircase down to the ground below and pulled his brother into a tight hug. Sam awkwardly held onto him before they pulled away from each other at the same time.

"Can we get out of here?" Dean asked.

"Yeah," Sam said, smacking him on the shoulder.

Cas looked up at the stairs one last time before they all exited the mansion at high speed, racing back to their motel.

* * *

After some extra sleep for the rest of the afternoon, everyone got into the Impala without complaint to go back home to Lawrence. The case was obviously a bust so it was agreed that it would be best to drop it and return home. No one had talked about it, any of it, but an hour out of town Sam really needed to ask. "Dean, what happened? What was at that house?"

Dean sighed and for once turned off the radio. Cas perked up from the book he was reading and put it aside so he could listen.

"I don't know, Sammy. I was sleeping and...there was just this voice, in my head, and it was telling me to come. So, I went."

"And?"

"And..._he_ was waiting for me."

"Who?" Cas asked.

Dean bit on the side of his lip, deep enough that it drew some blood that he swiped his tongue over. "Our Father."

Sam's eyes widened. "You don't mean…"

Dean half turned away from the road and stared at Sam. "What? No, not dad. No. The head of our race."

"There's a…we have a leader?" Cas asked while he looked to Sam. Sam shrugged. He really didn't have any idea.

Dean nodded and then began to laugh to himself. "He said…he said he actually wanted one of you two but he ended up getting stuck with little ol' me. The hard one."

"Did he tell you anything?" Sam asked.

Dean's eyes took on a faraway look. "He brought me to some room and I think he tried brainwashing me or something. Only that he wanted us to stop killing his Mother's children. Whoever the hell _that_ even is."

Sam sat back in his own seat, leaning his head slightly against the cool window. "We can check in with Bobby. See if he's ever come across it in research."

"Yeah, well, this whole thing is something I want to put in the back of my head and not think about for awhile."

And with that, Dean turned the radio back on and the conversation was one-hundred percent over. For now.


	7. Past is Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural. This is being done purely for amusement so no money is being made for my having written this piece.

Ever so slight Dean/Castiel stuff in here. This chapter was way easier to write than the last two and for that I'm totally glad. Enjoy.

* * *

Castiel tossed and turned in his bed. He flung his pillow to the ground in annoyance before rolling his eyes, reaching down and picking it back up again. He was just trying to get comfortable again when he heard the front door open and shut with a slam. He rubbed his head and looked to the clock, seeing it read five-thirty in the evening. As good a time as any to get up.

Cas fixed his bed and entered the living area to find Dean sitting on the couch in the dark. Clenched in his fisted hand was a half-empty bottle of whisky. Cas could smell the scents of cigarette smoke and alcohol radiating from Dean's clothes and body, meaning he'd probably just come from some bar. Without finding it necessary to announce himself, Cas took the seat beside him. Both of them stared at the wall for a couple of minutes before Dean wordlessly handed the bottle over to him. Castiel looked at him, cocking his head to the side, before accepting the gesture. He took a swig and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before giving it back.

"I'm not really a big fan of whisky," Cas commented.

"You hungry?" Dean asked.

Cas shook his head and then turned himself to face Dean. His, well, his friend he supposed. "You want to talk about it?" he asked.

Dean drank some more from the bottle and shook his head.

"Well," Cas said, "what do you want to talk about?"

Dean licked his lips and leaned forward to put the bottle down on the coffee table in front of him. He put his feet up on the table and leaned back until his head was far enough to be on top of the cushioned part. Cas leaned towards him and put his hand against Dean's shoulder. Dean looked over at him and raised his arm. Waiting a minute for confirmation that he wouldn't move away, Cas moved himself to lean against Dean's side and Dean put his arm back around him. This was the single most comforting gesture he'd gotten in his time since his turning. It was…rather nice.

"Cas, what were you like before?" Dean asked the top of Cas' head.

Castiel licked his own lips. Shifting his eyes (despite the fact that Dean couldn't see them), he asked, "Why do you want to know?"

Dean shrugged hard enough that Cas could feel it. "Curious."

Cas swallowed and took a minute. "I was quiet. I lived with my parents since I was still attending college courses."

"Right. You wanted to be a doctor."

Cas nodded against Dean's chest. "That's right. Really, I had always wanted to be a doctor but there were many setbacks. Fell in with the wrong crowds for a time."

"You?" Dean said incredulously.

Was it really that strange? Cas bit the side of his lip before deciding how to respond. "Well, the people that I found myself with, my then roommate and his friends who came by often, they weren't exactly the types who used their prescription pads for the right sorts of people."

"So you...wow, Cas. Didn't see that one coming."

"Neither did I. Neither did my family."

Cas sat up and rubbed his eye. With a sigh he leaned against the couch and when Dean looked over at him, he took that as his cue to continue. "The - the pills I was taking, that they had gotten, they were gradually taking over my whole life, bit by bit. I needed them for everything: my anxieties over studying and not failing, an old knee injury I got in high school that started bothering me again. And then the other drugs came. Marijuana helped me to let go of all the bad things. Amphetamines. Hard alcohol. I tried LSD once and had to be talked off of a roof because I thought that I could fly. Dean, I was just...I was just such a mess."

"So then what brought you back?"

Cas turned to Dean and the other man looked at him. "Promise me you won't laugh?"

Dean smirked. "I promise," he said, putting his hand over his heart.

"God," Cas said after a momentary hesitation.

"God?" Dean repeated, slightly incredulous.

"Religion really. I went into this church and just - just sat in there one night, thinking. I asked God for a sign and then this – this man appeared. He was homeless but devout. We talked (well, he talked) and in the end he said I should just go home. I needed to remember that there was something bigger out there, Dean. More than my stupid addiction and how those pills made me feel. So I went home to my parents and told them everything. My mother cried. My father was silent but I knew he was disappointed. They were glad that I came though and they brought me to a facility where I could learn to live without."

"You mean rehab?"

"Yes. I spent a few months with some very good councilors and exited a new and better man."

"So, wait," Dean started. He sat up and Cas moved so they were only sitting an arm length away. "How long was it between you being in rehab and you getting turned?"

Cas sighed. "A few weeks. A little over a month," he said, looking to the ceiling.

"Dude, Cas, that sucks."

"Understatement." Castiel leaned closer again. "Dean, I was going to get my life back. I wanted to have something good - a family, a good job. Now it's all just..."

"Gone."

Cas slumped in his seat and Dean, feeling it necessary to not be a jerk, pulled him close to his chest again and ran his hands through the other man's hair.

Dean looked down at him before saying, "Sammy and me, we've been hunters for practically our whole lives. When I was four and Sammy was a day short of six months old, my mom was killed by a demon."

"Demon?"

"Yeah, by a yellow eyed son of a bitch. She was on the ceiling of my brother's room, her abdomen cut and out of nowhere, like literally nowhere, burst into flames. My dad was in the room when it happened and I - I saw it all from the doorway."

"That must've been horrible."

"It was. My dad...man, my dad just lost it after that. Our whole lives, all three of us, suddenly turned into nothing but hunting down that demon and ending it. I was, well, I was sort of a natural at it. I wanted that thing bad because it took my mother away from me. Sammy...Sammy _hated_ the life though. He got out for a little while. Went to Stanford. Wanted to become a lawyer."

Feeling his own anger towards his lost life, Cas asked, "And how did that all go away?"

Dean chuckled darkly to himself. "Dad went on a hunting trip. He disappeared for a few days so I got worried. I drove all the way out to Cali and brought my brother with me to try and find him. Dad didn't want to be found though, not right then, so I brought Sam back to school and was going to continue to find him myself."

Dean stopped rubbing Cas' head and the other man shifted lower, laying his head on Dean's lap.

"Sammy had a girlfriend named Jessica. I only met her for a few minutes when I broke into their place and she, damn, she was probably _the one_."

"What happened to her?"

"After I brought him back, Sammy was lying on his bed and he looked up. And there Jessica was, suspended on the ceiling, abdomen cut and she suddenly burst into flames. I just got back in time to get him out. I think it was a hunch or something. I had to go back there, Cas."

"Symmetry."

"Whatever it was, Sammy and me have been basically on the road, looking for monsters and badies since. Until of course."

Cas sat up again. "Your turning."

Dean grabbed the forgotten bottle of whisky and began to drink. Cas knew that this was Dean's story to tell or to not.

"Sorry about that," Dean said, handing the bottle off again.

Cas took a drink and wiped his mouth before saying, "It's fine. Dean, if you do not want to..."

"It's cool, Cas. It was a simple, run of the mill case. Y'know, local people being exsanguinated. Y'know, something we couldn't let go. Sammy unfortunately was sort of laid up with a stomach flu so I went to take care of it myself. I pulled up to this old factory out in the middle of the city and - nothing. No power, no other people. Nothing. Except for the trap."

Cas' eyes widened. "Trap?"

Dean scratched the back of his head. "I didn't know the building had a large basement. Full, twenty person nest down there. Woke up tied to a pillar and, well, you can guess the rest."

"I'm so sorry Dean."

"Nah, you haven't got anything to be sorry for. You weren't there. Couldn't have stopped me."

The two men stayed silent for a little while afterwards, thinking.

"Dean, where were you a little while ago?" Cas asked.

"Out."

Cas turned to him. "That wasn't an answer."

Dean shifted in his seat and put his head into his hands.

"Dean," Castiel said, pushing on Dean's shoulder until he looked up, "did you...eat?"

The two men locked eyes.

"Guys?"

Dean turned back to find Sam walking out of his room, hair disheveled and still looking like he could fall back to sleep right where he stood.

"Morning, Sammy," Dean said and the tension in the room was just gone in an instant.

Castiel ignored the brothers bickering over which newspapers they should check that evening when there was a knock on their apartment door. Sam was the closest so he answered.

"Help. I need..."

Standing over the threshold one minute and falling into Sam's arms the next was a boy, no older than fifteen with dried blood crusted to his neck. Cas got to his feet immediately to help.

"How did he...?"

Both Sam and Cas turned to Dean who had gotten pale faced and shaky in the last few seconds.

"Dean," Sam asked, "who is this kid?"

"I think," Dean said while looking down at his shoes and then raising his hands to clutch the sides of his head, "I think he's the kid I turned on the street a little while ago."


End file.
